Blog Post: Boys From Brisco Mount

[From Our Blog]

Just posted on SuperStack by mickleinapickle – discussions in this thread, please
---

Boys from Brisco Mount

were not expected

to be high achievers,

although the brightest

might attend Tech College

and aspire to be fitters

at the biscuit factory.

.

According to general opinion,

we came from a long line

of lower-class no-hopers

and were scheduled,

as a matter of course,

to keep with this tradition.

.

A legend concerning

a hapless native

caught defiling

a helpless ruminant

had led to us all being labelled

with the same tag

and added to the consensus

of inbred ne’er-do-wells.

.

Factory grime

was the destiny

of most of us

as we left the school gates

for the final time,

which was a better deal

than previous generations,

whose destiny

was slum housing,

trench warfare

and hunger marches.
---

By mickleinapickle

 

[Eva Ulian]

Neat indeed - Put little stars between the stanzas, it will give it a boost. I loved the realistic portrait of back-street Brommy kids in the 6os.

 

[SusanT]

Sad but true, coming from that background, living down to expectations.

 

[mickleinapickle]

Neat indeed - Put little stars between the stanzas, it will give it a boost. I loved the realistic portrait of back-street Brommy kids in the 6os.

Thanks for your comment @Eva Ulian, I appreciate your words. It was actually a small town in the north of England... the sort of place that you grow to maturity, and then you leave.

 

[mickleinapickle]

Sad but true, coming from that background, living down to expectations.

I suppose many of us come from a poverty stricken background dating back a couple of generations (or more) @SusanT. Different classification of poverty these days, of course (Western world perspective). Bread and sugar for your supper at the lower end of the income scale in the fifties... it got better from the sixties onwards. Thanks for your comment.

 

[Eva Ulian]

Thanks for your comment @Eva Ulian, I appreciate your words. It was actually a small town in the north of England... the sort of place that you grow to maturity, and then you leave.

I mentioned "Brommy" because I came from that area and it was so familiar. But I guess backstreet children have more or less the same characteristics wherever they are in England.

 

[SusanT]

I suppose many of us come from a poverty stricken background dating back a couple of generations (or more) @SusanT. Different classification of poverty these days, of course (Western world perspective). Bread and sugar for your supper at the lower end of the income scale in the fifties... it got better from the sixties onwards. Thanks for your comment.

My dad was born in the slums here, my aunt told me about her childhood there and she loved it because of the community, plus they were a bit posher as they had an outdoor lavvy and tap all to themselves! the others had one to share for four houses. I'm not sure what it is that is passed down, probably a mindset of keep your head down and if you are surviving you are doing well. No encouragement to look higher. I think that is still the cycle, some things change, some live on, and children are still being born into it. I loved bread and brown sugar sandwiches

 

[Pamela Jo]

My dad was born in the slums here, my aunt told me about her childhood there and she loved it because of the community, plus they were a bit posher as they had an outdoor lavvy and tap all to themselves! the others had one to share for four houses. I'm not sure what it is that is passed down, probably a mindset of keep your head down and if you are surviving you are doing well. No encouragement to look higher. I think that is still the cycle, some things change, some live on, and children are still being born into it. I loved bread and brown sugar sandwiches

Margarine, white bread, white sugar, and cinnamon on top. I never actually ate butter until I married a Swiss.
What made rural teachers different in my state was they came from the same place and so it was all "per aspera ad astra." To the stars thru hardship.

Brian Blessed's autobiography is a great listen on audible. He was put in a class of "hopeless" kids destined for the mines like their fathers but had a teacher whose attitude was, " If you want to show the bastards who's stupid- come with me." They not only learned but beat the "smart" kids at the game.